Lyr-Kel (Leer-kel)
Tiny sapient rodents, lyr-kels are creatures born of the fire and the light of life energy. Being unable to defend themselves physically, a lyr-kel carries with it a shard of its soul as a small ball of fire known as a mituar.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Lyr-kels resemble small, glowing rodents, often similar to lemures or rabbits, but can vary greatly in their personal appearance.
Biological Traits
A Lyr-kel is followed by a small fragment of their soul that resembles a small flame. This flame is known as a mituar and while the lyr-kel utilize it to defend themselves, most would rather run then fight.
Genetics and Reproduction
Lyr-kels form magically from trees grown in the mystical forest of Levex-Casein known as Ancestor Trees. It is believed that the essence of many animals that live in the forest and utilize the trees for their life crystalizes into special leaves on the branches of such trees, and these crystals eventually fall off, shattering on the ground and forming a new-born lyr-kel. An ancestor tree may give birth to thousands of lyr-kel over its lifetime, and with training, a lyr-kel can transform into a sapling Ancestor Tree upon its death, restarting the cycle. A lyr-kel is capable of reproducing in the typical fashion, but rarely do they do so, as most lack the understanding to properly reproduce, and those born naturally seem to have a weaker connection to the elements.
Growth Rate & Stages
Lyr-kels reach adulthood quickly at 4 years of age, often spending the rest of their life playful running through the woods of Levex-Casein, often returning to its Ancestor Tree at the end of its life to return its life energy to it.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Lyr-kels mostly sustain themselves off nuts and berries provided by the Ancestor Trees of the forest, often utilizing their mituar to roast their food. The rare lyr-kel that fall and become narvú often add meat to their diet, often hunting insects and animals even smaller then themselves.
Biological Cycle
The lyr-kel are a diurnal species, retreating into their burrows as soon as the sun sets. Those who reject the day and transform into narvú become nocturnal, hunting down prey during the night hours, and specifically target any lyr-kel that they happen across.
While the forest of Levex-Casein is kept mostly warm in the winter months due to its geographic location, the energy levels of the lyr-kel drop drastically when exposed to winter weather. Many lyr-kel that travel or are brought out of the forest and into more regularly temperate areas often freeze to death in the winter if not kept warm.
Additional Information
Social Structure
The lyr-kel lack any sort of organization or society, but will often congregate near ancestor trees with each other to play, and will aid each other in finding food and shelter.
Domestication
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The magic of ancestor trees is sought to be understood by many unscrupulous wizards, and the wood of ancestor trees is said to bestow magical properties or create lasting structures when used in item creation. They are thusly sought by builders who care little for the environmental effects of their progress, as the removal and destruction of ancestor trees often leads to entire areas of lyr-kel and even the other life in the area dying out.
Facial characteristics
Lyr-kel have large, dark eyes more akin to a rodent, and have a rodent-like teeth, noses and whiskers. Their often have long and floppy ears.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
A vast majority of lyr-kel live in the enchanted forest of Levex-Casein that serves as the borderlands between Ixuil and Usoram. Lyr-kel have a hard time surviving in conditions outside the forest, and thus only leave when they absolutely must, but many can also be found near the boundry of the forest in Ixuil and Usoram.
Average Intelligence
Lyr-kel are closer to hyper intelligent animals rather then a truly sapient race, and thus place emphasis on things other races don't; such as food, fun, and sleep over building settlements or learning a trade. While they are perceptive, they lack long-term attention spans and have a hard time relating to more complex and "civilized" races.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Lyr-kels can see in low-light conditions, and thanks to the glow that their body gives off, they are rarely unable to see. The corrupted lyr-kel known as narvú are unable to see in the light, and thus act mostly during the night hours.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Many lyr-kel learn how to speak with plants, and can often be found playing around plant creatures or having a plant creature guarding its burrow. They can often also bond with the animals of the forest, often playing with other small animals or helping them to find food.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Most lyr-kel have simple, three letter names that they can easily remember, but often only use their names when speaking to other races.
Major Organizations
Few lyr-kels even understand the point of organizing, and thus aren't found in many structured organizations. They sometimes can be found in druid circles, and a small portion of lyr-kel dwell in the territory of the Tribe of the Eternal Way.
Beauty Ideals
Lyr-kels see beauty in all natural things, but particularly enjoy shiny and glowey objects. A lyr-kel avoids the color purple, believing it to be bad luck and a sign of corruption.
Gender Ideals
While they do have genders, lyr-kel have little in the way of gender ideals, and often cannot tell the genders of other races apart.
Courtship Ideals
Lyr-kels often don't partake in courtships, due to usually being born from an Ancestor Tree, but will often from strong friendships with another lyr-kel that can lead to a partnership. When they do form courtships and mate, their individual mituars join together to form the mituar of their child, although such children are usually born a Cûna. Unfortunately, this leaves the parents in a weakened state, and often don't survive long afterword.
Relationship Ideals
Lyr-kels are easily pleased and can quickly make fast friends, but they often struggle with more civilized concepts, and are often confused by the hustle of more advanced life.
Average Technological Level
Being born of nature, and lacking any sort of civilization, lyr-kel have basically no technology. They often don't trust any technology that they come across, as it is often crafted by plundering the natural world.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Most lyr-kel only speak Sylvan, lacking the understanding or patience to learn other languages. The few that do learn other languages often pick up Common, Elven, Gnomish or Ignan.
Common Etiquette Rules
Lyr-kels often bring small gifts of food, acorns, or other small objects to play with to their friends. They often have a hard time not understanding when another race might not want a gift of acorns or other natural objects.
Common Dress Code
Due to their miniscule size and more animal-like bodies, clothing must be specially made for a lyr-kel, and thus few wear any form of clothing. Most don't even wear armor, as even custom tailored armor often hinders their nimble movements.
Common Taboos
Actively harming nature, especially plants, is an unthinkably evil act for most lyr-kel. Many also don't understand why any creature would actively harm another except for in the case of self-defense, and even then most lyr-kel would rather run away then continue to fight. The only exception to this is the Cûna and the Narvú, as Cûna are shunned and the Narvú actively are hunted down.
Historical Figures
One of the members of the Nenu-Lan guild, The Court of Misfits, was a half-corrupted lyr-kel named Urna.
Common Myths and Legends
Most lyr-kel don't have the organizational skills to join organized religions. Those that do become part of religions often lean more towards druidism and similar practices, but most lyr-kel worship Ygg, the World Tree, as the great Ancestor Tree of all races.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Lyr-kels are playful and friendly creatures, and are able to easily bond with other races. Races that have a respectful connection to nature such as Elves can easily connect with a lyr-kel, with races that rely heavily on technology and progress, such as a Dwarf having a much harder time getting a lyr-kel to trust them. The Edaan view lyr-kels as ancient pests, who should aid and be subservient to them with the role of protecting divine light, while the Tamun have a great respect for them. It is believed that the tamun first unlocked their soul magic from studying the lyr-kel, but found their passive approach to the world as too much of a weakness that could be exploited by others.
Racial Table - Lyr-Kel: Hit Dice: D10; Class Skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Knowledge (Nature), Perception, Stealth; Skill Ranks Per Level: 2 + Intelligence modifier; Weapon Proficiency: Spirit Flame; Armor Proficiency: None
| Level | BAB | Fort | Reflex | Will | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +2 | +0 | Spirit Flame, Spirit Light, Weakness to Negative Energy |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +0 | Fire Resistance, Woodland Stride |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | Speak With Plants, Spirit Flame Increase |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Evasion, +1 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Nimble Dodger, Spirit Flame Increase |
Random Starting Ages
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 years | +1d2 years (5 - 6) | 1d4 years (5 - 8) | +1d6 years (5 - 10) |
Random Height and Weight
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 1 ft. | +1d12 in. (1 ft. 1 in. - 2 ft.) | 1 lb. | +1d12 lbs. (2 - 13 lbs.) |
| Female | 1 ft. | +1d12 in. (1 ft. 1 in. - 2 ft.) | 1 lb. | +1d12 lbs. (2 - 13 lbs.) |
Lyr-Kel Aging Table
| Middle Age (-1 to Str, Dex, and Con, +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Old (-2 to Str, Dex, and Con, +2 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Venerable (-3 to Str, Dex, and Con, +3 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Maximum Age (GM secretly decides maximum age) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 years | 38 years | 50 years | 50 + 1d10 years (51 - 60 years) |
Random Lyr-kel Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-50 | Forest or Jungle | Acrobat |
| 51-70 | Elven, Gnome, or Natural Settlement | Weathered Emissary |
| 71-90 | Primal Forest | Fey-wise |
| 91-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland table) |
Random Lyr-kel Families (Lyr-kel's don't have families in traditional senses)
| % Rolled | Family Status |
|---|---|
| 01-65 | Self Raised |
| 66-00 | Adopted (Roll on adopted families table) |
| % Rolled | # of Siblings |
|---|---|
| 01-90 | No siblings |
| 91-00 | 1 Sibling (Twins) |
by @miz0mei on twitter
by @miz0mei on twitter
Lifespan
51 - 60 years; although some lyr-kel learn to reform into Ancestor Trees upon their death, restarting their lifecycle.
Average Height
1 ft. 1 in. - 2 ft.
Average Weight
2 - 13 lbs.
Average Physique
While incredibly nimble due to their size, the lyr-kel are incredibly fragile, and their smaller statue means that they lack any sort of meaningful physical strength.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Lyr-kels are a white or light-bluish color, and they glow with a soft light that constantly illuminates their surroundings, although such a glow is rarely out of place in the magical forest of Levex-Casein. Rarely, a lyr-kel rejects the inner light it is made up of, transforming into either a Cûna or a Narvú. Instead of a white or blue color, a Narvú is a dark black and glows with a sinister purple energy, while a Cûna is simply a dull grey color.
Geographic Distribution
Lyr-Kel
Type
Magical Beast
Ability Score Modifier
+4 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength, -2 Constitution. Lyr-kels are nimble and intune with nature, but fragile.
Size
small
Speed
Lyr-kels have a base speed of 30 feet.
Language
A lyr-kel begins play speaking Sylvan. A lyr-kel with a high intelligence score can pick from any of the following languages: Celestial, Common, Elven or Ignan.
- Materil: A lyr-kel can be tied to either the Light or Fire Materil, allowing them to become either a Lightbender or a Firedancer.
- Low-light Vision: Lyr-kels can see twice as far as humans in low-light conditions.
- Tiny Sized: Lyr-kels are tiny sized creatures. Tiny sized creatures get a +2 size bonus to AC, a +2 size bonus on attack rolls, a -2 penalty to combat maneuver bonus and their CMD, and a +8 size bonus on Stealth checks. Tiny creatures take a space of 2-½ feet by 2-½ feet, so up two four of these creatures can fit in a single square. Tiny creatures have a reach of 0 feet, meaning they must move into enemy squares to attack it in melee. This provokes an attack of opportunity from the opponent. Tiny creatures do not threaten squares for creatures larger than tiny, and typically cannot flank an opponent
- Spirit Flame (Su): A lyr-kel carries with it a fragment of its soul to aid it in battle. Known to them as their mituar, the spirit flame starts with a range of 10 feet and deals 1d4 points of fire damage. This damage also counts as positive energy when striking creatures weak or resistant to positive energy. When the lyr-kel reaches 3rd racial level, the flames' damage increases to 1d6 and its range increases to 20 feet. The damage and range increase again at 5th racial level to 1d8 and 30 feet. A lyr-kel guides the flame with its hand, so it must have at least one hand free to use the spirit flame. The flame counts as a light one-handed weapon for the purpose of dual wielding. When not being used, the flame floats idly around the lyr-kel.
- Spirit Light (Sp): A lyr-kel gives off a white glow as the light spell, save that its radius is only 5 feet instead of 20. This negates the normal +8 size bonus to Stealth checks granted from being tiny sized.
- Weakness to Negative Energy: A lyr-kel is weak to the destructive force of negative energy. They take 50% more damage from negative energy or necrotic sources, such as a ghost’s touch of corruption ability.
- Fire Resistance: Starting at 2nd racial level, a lyr-kel gains fire resistance 5. This fire resistance increases to 10 at 4th racial level .
- Woodland Stride (Ex): Starting at 2nd racial level, a lyr-kel may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at their normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect them. If a lyr-kel already has the Woodland Stride feature from another source, they gain a +10 enhancement bonus to their overland movement speed when moving through those areas for the first time each turn.
- Speak With Plants (Sp): Starting at 3rd racial level, 1/day, a lyr-kel can cast speak with plants on themselves as a spell-like ability, using their total hit dice as their caster level.
- Evasion: Starting at 4th racial level, as lyr-kel can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If they succeed at a Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, they instead take no damage. Evasion can only be used if the lyr-kel is wearing light or no armor. A helpless lyr-kel does not gain the benefit of evasion. If the lyr-kel gains evasion from another source (or already had evasion) they instead gain the Improved Evasion advanced rogue talent.
- Nimble Dodger: Starting at 5th racial level, as long as a lyr-kel is unarmored and unencumbered, they gain a dodge bonus to their AC equal to the total base reflex save of all racial and class levels they possess.
Alternate Racial Trait
- Animal Friend (Sp): Some lyr-kel can easily connect with other animals instead of plants. At 3rd racial level, they can 3/day cast speak with animals as a spell-like ability, using their total hit dice as their caster level. This trait replaces the Speak With Plants trait.
- Cûna (Ex): Some lyr-kel are more connected to the mortal world then primal light, and are known as Cûna. A cûna glows a dull grey color. Cûnas lack the Weakness to Negative Energy traits. A cûna has spell resistance equal to 6 + their character level, but only against spells with the light or shadow descriptor, as well as spells that utilize positive or negative energy. A cûna cannot lower this spell resistance willingly. A cûnas Spirit Flame starts at 1d3 points of damage instead of 1d4. This trait replaces the Spirit Light trait, the Weakness to Negative Energy trait, and alters the Spirit Flame ability.
- Narvú (Sp): A lyr-kel that has turned from the light and embraced shadow magic is called a Narvú. Instead of a bright white, narvús are a dark black that glows with a sinister purple energy. A narvú lacks low-light vision, instead gaining darkvision 60 feet and light blindness, but exudes darkness, being protected by a constant penumbra spell. A narvú is healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy, taking 50% more damage from positive energy sources. A narvú’s spirit flame counts as negative energy instead of positive energy against creatures who take extra damage from negative energy. This trait replaces the Weakness to Negative Energy trait and alters the lyr-kels Spirit Flame trait.
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